Sharon McFarlane
Sharon McFarlane is Co-Owner of Game Changing Media which helps drive fan engagement and digital growth for sports clubs.
With a passion for sports, and all things marketing – using the world of sports to create campaigns that can resonate with a global audience is the perfect job for her!
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Game Changing Media is a sports-specific digital marketing agency. We specialise in driving commercial growth to sports clubs using digital. By growing fan engagement on social platforms, we can help them attach a more significant value to their digital sponsorships, as well as create additional sponsorship revenue streams.
We also work with businesses who sponsor sports clubs as part of their marketing mix. Sponsorship activation is a skill in itself and one that is often delegated to a member of the team who doesn’t have experience in executing these types of campaigns.
- How did you get into the industry?
I am Co-Owner of Digital Footprints, a full-service digital marketing agency that’s been around for nearly 15 years now. A large percentage of our clients within that agency are also part of the iGaming space and major sponsors of sports clubs. It’s given us exposure to both sides of the spectrum, as representatives of both the club and a prospective sponsor.
We wanted to use that experience to create a new entity that was sports-specific and could service both the sports entities themselves including charitable arms and supporting bodies.
- What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
The sponsorship market is growing 9% year on year, it’s estimated to be worth around $190 billion come 2030. It’s becoming a much larger focal point when businesses are looking to build their brands. This gives us an opportunity to take a larger slice of that market and create innovative campaigns that will generate a return on investment.
As this market grows, it means that sports clubs will need to have a strong commercial team, but also a specialist marketing team to support the promotion behind these sponsorships. There will be a higher expectation of these clubs to deliver quality activation campaigns. The space for a sports-specific agency like us to act as the liaison between both parties.
The biggest challenge is that there is a mindset shift needed within some of the sports clubs that rely on sponsorship. There is still a traditional thought process in some areas of advertising where it’s still reliant on the likes of trackside advertising, programme advertising etc – and still thinking of digital as an afterthought, and not fully embracing the potential of its value and how it can retain sponsors and attract new ones.
- How would you describe your leadership style?
I like to think that I take a people-centred approach to leadership that promotes creativity and for our team to feel empowered to speak up about any ideas they may have, or any feedback they might have. We definitely have a collaborative workplace, and I think that brings our team together.
- How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
I think trust is a big thing and allowing people to work to their strengths. The reality is – one person can’t be an expert in everything, including the owner of the business.
That means you need to have good people around you and allow them to lead in their area. People respond to that well and want to do the best they can for your business.
- What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
We have a forward-thinking leadership team. We don’t like to sit still – and always want to be ahead of the curve no matter what we do.
We also have good people behind us, and a supportive network. It takes a village…..
- How has the past 12 months been for you?
Exciting! We launched Game Changing Media in November, and the level of interest we have had from sports clubs, professionals, supporting bodies and sponsors has been more than we could have hoped for.
That coupled with the growth of Digital Footprints has made the last 12 months incredibly rewarding.
- What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
It’s exciting times ahead for us. We will be placing a big focus in the iGaming space where we know there are already a huge number of heavy sponsors within the sporting arena. We have already organised conference attendance, podcast appearances, speaking opportunities and some great new clients are being onboarded.
We also will be placing a huge focus on working with women’s sports and levelling the playing field when it comes to attracting sponsors for women’s teams. We think there is a big gap in the market there, and are confident we can fill it.
We will also be adding to our team, so we have the expert infrastructure we need to propel the business and scale.
- What are the highlights of your career so far?
I’m proud of being part of the leadership team that turned Digital Footprints into an international, award-winning digital marketing agency. With that has come many highlights and opportunities. I’ve been asked to speak in conferences in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Glasgow and Marbella – and be able to share my experiences of the world of digital with large audiences.
Those experiences have given me so much in terms of professional growth, so would probably choose that as a big highlight for me.
- What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
I think the biggest learning experience for me is that in the past I have become emotionally attached to ideas. When that happens, sometimes you can’t see the bigger picture and are too invested in it. Sometimes, it’s good to step back, gain perspective think of things logically, and not get too carried away in the creativity.
- What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
That if I’m the smartest person in the room, I’m not in the right room. I think that’s always stood me in good stead in business. Everything is a learning experience, and there’s so much that can be learned from others.
